Dave Mustaine: ‘I Have a Personal Relationship With Christ’ But ‘I Don’t Believe in Religion’

Here's a brain-scrambler to sink your teeth into -- Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has been incredibly outspoken in recent years about becoming a born-again Christian. However, despite his statements on Christianity and committing biblical ideology to his personal belief system, Mustaine was recently quoted as saying, "I don't believe in religion."

Let's take a quick look back at Dave Mustaine's ties to religion within the past two years. In a February 2012 interview with the Raleigh Evangelical Examiner, Megadeth bassist David Ellefson spoke about studying the bible with Mustaine. "Dave and I never dispute scripture but rather we study it together. Dave is actually very well versed and read on scripture, especially the Old Testament,” Ellefson explains. “I’ve learned quite a bit from him over the years. I think his understanding of Moses is superior to what mine used to be."

Fast forward just a few weeks later -- During a chat with MusicRadar, Mustaine denounced gay marriage while showing his support for then-Presidential candidate Rick Santorum. When asked if Santorum's stance on gay marriage troubled Mustaine, the frontman answered, "I'm a Christian. The answer to that would be no." The Megadeth singer would later deny supporting Rick Santorum for President.

Just a few weeks after that, Mustaine spoke with LA Weekly about biblical prophecy. “Even if you don’t believe in God and you don’t believe in faith, you’ve got to understand, when Israel became a country again, that was a prophecy in the Bible that came true, and the Bible was written so many hundreds of years ago,” says Mustaine. Also, any of the stuff that it says in there about the end times — that stuff’s really happening right now. Look what’s happening over in the Middle East. It’s crazy.”

In March 2012, Dave spoke about not wanting to play with "Satanic bands" and while recording 'Super Collider,' Mustaine would bring a crucifix into the studio while he tracked vocals.

Sound's pretty religious, doesn't it? However, in a new interview with the Nashville Scene, the Megadeth frontman said something that may seem contradictory to a lot of people. "I don't think that my faith has anything to do with my lyrics," begins Mustaine. "I try and keep religion out of it. Frankly, for me, I don't believe in religion. I have a personal relationship with God and with Christ, and that's it. I don't push that on anybody; it's private. I kind of leave it there."

While it may seem confusing for one to believe in God and Christ but not religion, this passage from Wikipedia may explain Mustaine's train of thought: "The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith, belief system or sometimes set of duties; however, in the words of [sociologist] Émile Durkheim, religion differs from private belief in that it is 'something eminently social.'"